Assess Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism, a form of consequentialism, is a philosophy that advocates mass pleasure for the majority. Although some utilitarian theories seek to maximise pleasurable consequences, (Hedonistic Utilitarianism, Act Utilitarianism), others seek to encourage rules that are seen as “right” (Rule Utilitarianism). However, all types of utilitarianism are defined by the principle of utility - “…the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people”.

Two proprietors of utilitarianism are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, both having slightly different views on what utilitarianism actually is. While Bentham thought that pleasure itself was intrinsically good, whatever form it may take, Mill argued that cultural, intellectual, and spiritual pleasures were of greater value than mere physical pleasure, because the former would be valued more highly by competent judges than the latter. This separation of views led to the division of utilitarianism into its many sub-categories: Classic/Hedonistic Utilitarianism, Negative Utilitarianism, Act Utilitarianism, Rule Utilitarianism, Preference Utilitarianism and Ideal Utilitarianism.

Classic/ Hedonistic Utilitarianism states that pleasure/happiness is the only goon thing in itself. All other things are only �good’ as far as they produce pleasure/happiness; they are instrumentally good in that they produce pleasure. However, there are many problems with hedonistic utilitarianism. An argument to be brought forward is that classical utilitarians cannot explain our obligations to keep promises and not to lie when no pain is caused or pleasure is lost. Because of this, hedonistic utilitarians will have no difficulty in lying if it will not diminish their pleasure. If the world followed hedonistic utilitarian values, then deceit will be commonplace, leading to a lack of trust between people, which will eventually lead to absolutely no faith between human beings. This will mean that pleasures cannot be shared, thus pain will ensue. Although this may seem far-fetched, the disvalue of faith/ trust between neighbours can easily be brought up as an argument against hedonistic utilitarianism.

Negative Utilitarianism declares that the primary moral duty is to reduce the total amount of suffering/harm in the world rather than to promote pleasure. The motivation for this view was to avoid the problems with hedonistic utilitarianism, as lies cannot be justified if they promote negativity. One possible problem with this theory is that if the focus of ones life is to eliminate pain/suffering, then the annihilation of the human race would be acceptable, as pollution, destruction of rainforests and consummation of earths natural resources would cease and desist.

Act Utilitarianism establishes the need for the maximization of pleasure and the minimization of pain. In each situation, we calculate which action will provide the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. The problem with this is that if one wishes to follow act utilitarianism completely, then the time-consuming calculation of utility needs to be performed for every deed. Rule Utilitarianism was devised in order to combat this problem. We know from experience that certain types of act will promote either pleasure or pain, so the rules devised to diminish pain should be the ones followed. Rule Utilitarianism isn’t without its flaws however; it has been criticised for condemning general rules that in some situations would promote happiness, e.g. killing in self-defence.

Like any utilitarian theory, Preference Utilitarianism claims that the right thing to do is that which produces the best consequences for the greatest amount of people, and that actions should be defined by choosing something that is defined by ones preferential satisfaction; what somebody wants is more important than what is pleasurable. For example, if rumours were being spread about a person behind their back, destroying their reputation, but not directly affecting them in any way, this (according to a hedonistic utilitarian) would not be wrong, as that person is not receiving any negative backlash from this act. However, a preference utilitarian would declare this wrong, as that person's preference would be to have a good reputation.

Lastly, Ideal Utilitarianism defines “pleasure” as certain ends that are good in themselves and therefore should be promoted. These acts usually include things like acknowledging beauty, fine art, and study.

In order to fully differentiate the differences between utilitarianism, “The Tram Problem” is presented:

“A tram is running out of control down a track. In its path are 5 people who have been tied to the track by a mad philosopher. Fortunately, you can flip a switch which will lead the tram down a different track to safety.